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እንታይ ኢና ኰንና ኤርትራውያን፡ እንታይዩ ወሪዱና በዚ ሓደ ውልቀ ሰብ ኢሰያስ እዚ ሃብቲ ኤርትራን ህዝቢ ኤርትራን ከምድላዩ ገሩ ክጻወተልና ክነብር። እዚስ ሕምቀትናን ስንፍናናን ርኡ ከም ዝጻወተልና ከም ዘሎ እዚ ፍሉጥ እዩ። ክሳብ ማዓስ ኢናሞ ከምዚልና ብስንፍናና ክንነብር።

እንተቲ ድንግል መረትናኳ ንማለቱ ዋላ ሳንቲም ትኹን ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ክበጽሖ እዩ ኢልካ ምሕሳብ ማለት ዘይሕሰብ’ዩ፡ እንትርፎ ንኢሰያስን ነቶም ሰብ ባሊቃታቱ ዝኾኑ ሰሰስልጣን ናይዚ ማዕድን ፕሮጀት እቶት እዚ፡ በበቲ ብጽሒቶም ክማቐልዎ እንተዘይ ኮይኖም ካለእ ምሕሳብ የለን።

ኣብ ናይ ወርቂ ብሻ ማዕድን እቶት እንተርኢና ናይቲ ፕሮጀክት ኣታዊ ብሚሊዮናት ዝቑጸር ኣታዊኡን መዕለቢኡን ዘይፍለጥ፡ ህዝቢ ኣፍልጦ ናይዚ ዘይብሉ ናይ ማፊያ ስራሕ ኮይኑተሪፉ ኣሎ።

ብዘይ ቅዋም ምዕራፍ ዓንቀጽ ሕጊ ዘይብሉ ናይዝሓለፉ ፕሮጀክትን ናይዚ ሕጂ ዝቕጽል ዘሎ ናይ ኦርታክ ፓርትነር ን ንመጻኢ ኤርትራ ብምጣነ ሃብቲ ምስቲ ዝድለ ዘሎ ንለውጢ ህዝባዊት ዲሞክራሲያዊ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ኣብ ዝቆመሎ ብሃብቲ ናይታ ሃገር ኤርትራ ድኽምቲ ነብሳ ከምዘይ ትኽእል ክገብራ እዩ ዝጽዕር ዘሎ። እዚ ብማዕድናት ኤርትራ ጥራሕ ዘይኮነ፡ ትሕቲ ቕርጺ ኤርትራ እውን ኣዳኺምዋን፡ መሬት ኤርትራ ባዲሙን ከም ዘሎ ንነፍሲ ወከፍ ስውር ኣይኮነን።

Ten years ago, Tamrat Bekele would have been lucky to find 25 customers a day. Today, his medical laboratory in Addis Ababa tests 10 times as many.

The Ethiopian entrepreneur is surprised less by the swell in business than the rising popularity of tests more often associated with affluent, western lifestyles, especially cholesterol and hypertension.

“We used to be overwhelmed with infectious disease but as the middle class increases and lifestyle changes, all these non-communicable diseases are now rising very, very fast,” says Mr Bekele, who hopes International Clinical Laboratories, the most advanced testing facility in Ethiopia, can expand

to serve more of the country’s 90m people, as well as other countries in eastern Africa.

Although Ethiopia remains largely agrarian, poor and closed to foreign investors, it is also one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies and the last big market on the continent that investors want to crack.

“When I opened this place, I’d say 10-15 per cent of people in Addis [Ababa] could afford us, today it’s 70 per cent,” says Mr Bekele of his 900,000 customers to date. Growing wealth and sedentary lifestyles also amplify old traditions that die hard. “Traditionally Ethiopia is a very . . . meat-eating society,” says Mr Bekele, adding that rising spending power is raising an already high consumption of red meat, which may increase the risk of diabetes.

Lab work reflects other social developments. Mr Bekele trains judges in paternity testing because so many court cases focus on inheritance claims. His plan to bring DNA testing in-house will reduce the fee to $60 from $250 (tests currently have to be carried out in the US).

The government is also making DNA testing for flight crew and army personnel compulsory, while bringing in mandatory healthcare insurance for the broader population and introducing a kidney transplant programme – all of which will necessitate more tests.

Mr Bekele came up with the business idea when he came home from the US in the 1990s to assist his father, who was sick with cancer. He was appalled by long queues and poor hygiene at the local testing facility. “It was a horrible, horrible place and it just hit me: ‘What am I doing? I have this ability [to do something about it], it’s what I’m working in’,” says Mr Bekele, who was then director of operations at LabCorp, a large listed US diagnostics company.

It took him 11 years to apply his expertise and navigate red tape and the impact of war with breakaway neighbour Eritrea, while also convincing the US government to lend him $500,000 to start up his business in the capital.

The 46-year-old says he would never have stuck it out were he a foreign investor without blood ties to Ethiopia: “It made me determined to stay despite all the problems.”

He now believes he can compete across the continent, aided by the fact that wages in Ethiopia are eight times lower than in South Africa – which boasts two world-class labs – and five times lower than neighbour Kenya.

The network of the state-owned Ethiopian Airlines is extensive enough for samples to be flown into Addis from across the region. As part of a drive to double revenues in two years, Mr Bekele plans to open in Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya and Uganda while also expanding domestic operations through profit-sharing partnerships with hospitals outside the capital.

Next month a regional private equity firm that prefers not to be named will back Mr Bekele’s vision by investing $2.5m. But he is far more excited about the prospect of setting up a gym and health food store, as well as promoting walking. “The good thing is all these new diseases are preventable, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

JULIAN B. KIGANDA is an artist, designer, speaker and writer born in Uganda with mixed Rwandese heritage raised in America. In her blog she writes her background  has colored the lens through which she lives her life and experiences the world.

She worked also as a community organizer with African Diaspora for Change, I have chaired star-studded events and led critical community dialogues, while developing culturally-relevant programming. Juliane has listed Asmara Sium, Executive Director of the African Immigrant and Refugee Foundation (AIRF) with origins in Eritrea , amongst the 30 Most Notable Africans of 2013 on her blog “Bold and Fearless”.

Country of Origin: ERITREA

What: More often than not, some of the most notable people we know are unsung heroes who quietly, but passionately go about their work—rarely seeking publicity unless it will somehow help the people they serve or advance the mission they are committed to.

Asmara Sium is one of those unsung heroes. Don’t let her friendly smile fool you, as the Executive Director of the African Immigrant and Refugee Foundation (AIRF), the fire she has for empowering African youth is what drives her to often work 60-80 hour weeks, while juggling the demands of being a wife and mother of two young children. Based in the Washington, DC area, AIRF was founded in 2000 by Mama Wanjiru Kamau to help African immigrants transition into American society.

Why I’m Inspired: From hosting programs like the Catching Up Program in local area public schools to enable African immigrant youth to embrace their culture while assimilating in an environment that isn’t always welcoming, to hosting an annual conference to engage these same youth in dialogue, education and a celebration of their African heritage, Sium has carried the torch passed on by Mama Kamau with a grace and selflessness that is rare.

In a world that puts shameless self-promotion above service to humanity, her sincerity and focus on the mission of empowering African immigrant youth is refreshing. Having faced many of the cultural challenges herself that these youth are facing, Sium states in this article:

“The kids are trying to figure out how to be American… We see in these kids so much more than I think they do at times and it’s our job to say, ‘here are the tools,’ and they rise to the occasion. With some extra support, these kids can excel beyond any of our expectations.”

Visit Julian’s blog here Bold and Fearless

Elsabel “Bel” Yemane was born in Eritrea and raised in London. She began working as a model after being scouted as a teenager, and has since worked across three continents, appeared in countless magazines and on innumerable catwalks.

Bel has modelled for brand name clients such as Adidas, Marks & Spencer’s, Pantene and Galaxy Chocolate, just to name a few. She particularly enjoys working for designers such as Eki Orleans, who promote fashion styles inspired by their shared African roots.

When she’s not walking the catwalks at Fashion Week, or spending 3 months in Cape Town on a modeling assignment, you can find her here. At the gorgeous Bel’s Salon which she is the proud owner of.

The salon itself is, by all means, beautiful. From the French baroque-ish mirrors to the old fashioned telephone that sits on the counter, it just screams old glamour. The warm brown earth tones within the salon are welcoming, and the walls are graced by her modelling shots.

Although, she owns the salon people are impressed by how hands on she is. Bel washes the hair, then puts a Henna and Almond conditioning treatment in, and lets it sit. Clearly, she knows what she’s doing and what her clients want.

While under the dryer, one of the clients took the opportunity to ask her about her life. She was born in Eritrea, and her family moved to London where she grew up mostly in the North West. She currently lives around the corner from the salon.

She has a very bustling modeling career, and has actually modelled for many well-known companies and labels. Having just finished the River Island promo video, and recently returning from Lagos fashion week. Bel also made model shootings for Adidas, Mizani, Argos, Galaxy, Debenhams and much more, and has graced the covers and editorials of numerous magazines.

Elsabel’s professional model career started 4 years ago, prior to that, she was just an ordniary model doing odd shoots here and there.

Around this time last year Elsabel had the sporadic idea of opening a beauty salon. “I basically just walked past a salon and funnily enough, it’s on Bell street in Edgware road. I saw it was empty, and something made me walk in to ask what’s going on and if she wanted to hand it over”.

At first she rented a chair in the saloon to get an idea of the area and few month after she decided to take over the whole shop.

Later on, Elsabel came across another location which was bigger and on the main road, so she took that instead. “Once I have an idea that keeps me up brainstorming, I have to go for it” Elsabel says.

Visit Bel’s salon website: Bel’s Salon

ELLE Canada has tapped model Grace Mahary to cover the May issue. The beauty has walked in over 50 shows making her debut on the runway last September and has since walked for Marc Jacobs, Prada, Chanel and Saint Laurent. The 22-year-old, whose parents are originally from Eritrea, East Africa, never imagined a career in fashion but instead wanted to be a doctor. With her beauty we are glad she chose the runway!